My Magnificent Sea Anemone Journey....

[Sdot]

2 months is a good milestone. You're pretty much out of the woods barring some sort of mechanical failure that crashes the tank or adding another anemone and introducing disease.

Has the anemone moved at all since you've placed it on that rock?

If not, all you're going to be looking for is the tentacle tips to brighten, the oral disc to darken, and the tentacles themselves to lengthen.

Good looking tank and good looking anemone.

Thanks @Maxx. I dont plan on adding any new sea anemone. It hasnt moved since adding it to my reef. I am getting the picture these animals are slow responding. I look forward to the tentacles getting long and it coloring up.

 

[Sdot]

Hey guys.... another quick update/ observation. a few weeks ago i reached out to the late great Bob Fenner. I had questions about...well you know my Mag Anemone (The struggle is real!! Its my goal to report months and years from now my success). I had questions about feeding it.... ive heard dont, i heard others say to feed. So after getting my response back from Mr. Fenner (Ill attach here as well). I decided per his expertise to feed at least 2-3 times per week (very small portions).... or until its gotten to the point where its growth is out of hand (Great problem to have!!). I was hesitant to feed because, it doesnt look good after a feeding....(Tentacles deflate and it gets a little smaller, sometimes the mouth even gapes a little....i also posted this.) Mr. Fenner's response was, "Test and if its sticking go forward with more."

I started feeding it thawed mysis shrimp. It would eat it, but it didnt look happy after, which of course was a concern. I wasnt sure if i was hurting or benefiting the nem. Earlier this week i had a break through... while feeding my fish "Rod's Food".... i noticed a large silverside floating around in my tank (I guess they forgot to chop it up), it landed in the Mag....i have never witnessed such a strong feeding response from it..... Even the clowns could not pull the silverside out of it! Rather than the gaping mouth after.... it was tight and perky. Has anyone else witness such a thing? Is this normal? or did it finally get something that was natural to it? Please chime in on what, if anything you feed your Mags.



My conversation with Bob Fenner, his responses are in bold:

Hello team! I have been a frequent visitor of your site for years and truly enjoy your articles and books. I have had reef aquariums off and on well over 10 years. I’m fascinated by the clown fish and anemone relationship, and I have successful kept bubble tips anemone for years and have ventured into the infamous Magnificent Sea Anemone. I know they don’t ship well and the one I received had to be treated, which I believe I have done successfully. My questions are:
1. How will I know if and when the animal has settled? (It hasn’t moved since it was placed in the tank where it receives average par of 380 -400 with peaks of 450. ( 240 gallon display tank lit by 4 Orphek Alantik V4 gen 2 and two Kessil A360X)
<Not moving is a good sign for this and other anemone species; and the clownfish settling in (not avoiding) the host>
2. It has lost a little of its color since its Cipro treatment, how long does it take to get that back? (Pix attached)
<Hopefully within a few weeks... I might (over)dose your supplementing of iodide/ate... with testing.>
3. Should I feed it at this time? I know when I have fed it in the past its tentacles deflate for a few hours? Not sure if this is normal or a bad sign? (In contrast my bubble tip anemones appear to get bigger after feeding)
<Yes; I would feed two, three times per week... "test" some food and if it is sticking, go forward with more>
4. Finally the mag has been in my tank since 03/17/2020. I receive it on 03/7, it started treatment on 03/08 (Went through cycles of deflating and inflating) and back in the aquarium 03/17 (No longer does it deflate or flatten out, however it does appear to shrink a little at night?)
<Yes; this is natural. Not to worry>
Thanks for your time, I look forward to your response.
Video <https://photos.app.goo.gl/5cAJkD4JJHdCoqD4A > of aquarium mag is on the right
<Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>

 

[DeniseAndy]

Can I give a thumbs up for you and a sad face for Bob Fenner? That is what is needed. I hope it continues to get larger and he was such a good contributor to our hobby and beyond.

 

[Sdot]

Can I give a thumbs up for you and a sad face for Bob Fenner? That is what is needed. I hope it continues to get larger and he was such a good contributor to our hobby and beyond.

I dont know you personally, but can i say you are an awesome person! @DeniseAndy i feel your support through just about every one of my post and i greatly appreciate it! And Mr. Fenner was a beast! He helped this aquarist for sure.

 

[Benjay221]

My nem looks just like the nem you got from SD. Those guys have great stuff. The base is now bright purple and the base of the tentacles are green and the middle is pink with the tips turning a bight purple. I wouldn’t feed it. In the wild these things aren’t getting handed food. Clowns feed them. Let your clowns bring them food. Up to you though. I just let nature to nature in my tank.

 

[Benjay221]

Ocellaris Wyoming White poking out

 

[Sdot]

My nem looks just like the nem you got from SD. Those guys have great stuff. The base is now bright purple and the base of the tentacles are green and the middle is pink with the tips turning a bight purple. I wouldn’t feed it. In the wild these things aren’t getting handed food. Clowns feed them. Let your clowns bring them food. Up to you though. I just let nature to nature in my tank.

beautiful nem! When did it start changing colors? The only reason i feed, i believe it shrinks if i dont otherwise?

 

[Benjay221]

Right when I put it under the Kessils

 

[Maxx]

Feeding....
My take on feeding H.magnifica is that small amounts when acclimating is fine. After they get acclimated to the tank, there is no need to feed. When the anemone is new to the system, clowns can be a problem for the anemone. Especially when it's weak from shipping. I've lost an anemone to clowns stealing food from it shortly after shipping. I'm not a scientist and all my experiences are anecdotal. My theory is that the anemone is weak/stressed from shipping and doesnt have alot of metabolic energy reserves left. Each attempt at taking in food uses some of that metabolic energy and if anemone engulfs and ingests food, (spending energy in the process) and then the clowns steal the food from the anemone, it just used energy it couldnt spare to try (unsuccessfully) and eat. The anemone I lost had the clowns stealing food from it and just wasted away. A healthy anemone will not often, (if ever) lose food to a clownfish.

Here is a good thread from another forum about H.magnifica. Pretty sure Ca!ore is on that thread, not sure if Dnak is.

Heteractis magnifica- tell me some success stories

My first post in that thread is #10.
Starting at post 15 I detail what I went through to bring back the anemone I'll be getting back here soon, (within a week).


These anemones can get B I G...feeding regularly and well will ensure you have an anemone the size of a manhole cover in short order...I wish I was exaggerating.

Keep doing what you're doing and you'll be fine.

 

[Sdot]

Feeding....
My take on feeding H.magnifica is that small amounts when acclimating is fine. After they get acclimated to the tank, there is no need to feed. When the anemone is new to the system, clowns can be a problem for the anemone. Especially when it's weak from shipping. I've lost an anemone to clowns stealing food from it shortly after shipping. I'm not a scientist and all my experiences are anecdotal. My theory is that the anemone is weak/stressed from shipping and doesnt have alot of metabolic energy reserves left. Each attempt at taking in food uses some of that metabolic energy and if anemone engulfs and ingests food, (spending energy in the process) and then the clowns steal the food from the anemone, it just used energy it couldnt spare to try (unsuccessfully) and eat. The anemone I lost had the clowns stealing food from it and just wasted away. A healthy anemone will not often, (if ever) lose food to a clownfish.

Here is a good thread from another forum about H.magnifica. Pretty sure Ca!ore is on that thread, not sure if Dnak is.

Heteractis magnifica- tell me some success stories

My first post in that thread is #10.
Starting at post 15 I detail what I went through to bring back the anemone I'll be getting back here soon, (within a week).


These anemones can get B I G...feeding regularly and well will ensure you have an anemone the size of a manhole cover in short order...I wish I was exaggerating.

Keep doing what you're doing and you'll be fine.

Thanks as always @Maxx, how are your Mags?

 

[Maxx]

Both of "mine" are fine.
I got out of the hobby back in 2016/2017 as I just didnt have enough time to devote to the tank. I broke the tank in that thread down and sold it and all the contents off. I sold both of the H.magnifica's to a buddy of mine who has a 500 galloon cube that is lit by four 250 watt MH's, T-5's, and some Kessil A360's.
The yellow tipped one has grown to be 24 inches in diameter, has very long thin tentacles, (vs the shorter fat tipped ones in my pictures) and the yellow tips are almost an inch in length. That anemone was about 12 inches in diameter when I had it, and I managed it's size by controlling it's feeding. The nematocysts from the yellow one were strong enough that in my care it would raise welts and would burn (felt like a chemical burn) for a few hours if it got me on the forearm or wrist. I dont even want to think about what it would feel like now.

Most recent pics of it can be found here.

The purple one was in the same tank and began to wander so the current owner put into the refugium and offered it back to me for sale. It's currently about 12-15 inches in diameter and waiting for my 40 breeder to get set up. I should be finished with the set up today and will get water in and mixed, all pumps on, and heater going. Rock has been cycling in a Brute container since January 10th with Microbacter 7 XLM.

This tank is literally being set up just for the anemone. I will eventually get some captive bred A. nigripes for for it and will slowly stock it with some other corals and small fish.

I purchased the yellow tipped one from PhishyBusiness (no longer open sadly..Serdar Ercan and his wife were awesome) on March 10th 2006.
I purchased the purple one in early Nov 2010.

 

[Sdot]

Both of "mine" are fine.
I got out of the hobby back in 2016/2017 as I just didnt have enough time to devote to the tank. I broke the tank in that thread down and sold it and all the contents off. I sold both of the H.magnifica's to a buddy of mine who has a 500 galloon cube that is lit by four 250 watt MH's, T-5's, and some Kessil A360's.
The yellow tipped one has grown to be 24 inches in diameter, has very long thin tentacles, (vs the shorter fat tipped ones in my pictures) and the yellow tips are almost an inch in length. That anemone was about 12 inches in diameter when I had it, and I managed it's size by controlling it's feeding. The nematocysts from the yellow one were strong enough that in my care it would raise welts and would burn (felt like a chemical burn) for a few hours if it got me on the forearm or wrist. I dont even want to think about what it would feel like now.

Most recent pics of it can be found here.

The purple one was in the same tank and began to wander so the current owner put into the refugium and offered it back to me for sale. It's currently about 12-15 inches in diameter and waiting for my 40 breeder to get set up. I should be finished with the set up today and will get water in and mixed, all pumps on, and heater going. Rock has been cycling in a Brute container since January 10th with Microbacter 7 XLM.

This tank is literally being set up just for the anemone. I will eventually get some captive bred A. nigripes for for it and will slowly stock it with some other corals and small fish.

I purchased the yellow tipped one from PhishyBusiness (no longer open sadly..Serdar Ercan and his wife were awesome) on March 10th 2006.
I purchased the purple one in early Nov 2010.

Wow very nice...love the color.

 

[Maxx]

How's your anemone?

 

[Sdot]

How's your anemone?

Not sure why im not getting notifications....Thanks @Maxx for the followup...i was getting ready to post. So here it is..

 

[Sdot]

Hey family latest update on my Mag journey thus far.

I am quickly finding these animals are very sensitive. I made the mistake of feeding it a piece of a silver side only to find the anemone had a reaction to it as if it had a bacteria infection (Cycles of deflating). I did not treat it however since it appears to deflate every couple of days. No feeding! Let the clowns do that..... The cycles have slowed down and it hasn't deflated since 05/29. I am also dealing with high levels of tin, and per my ICP test i need to change 180 gallons of water :mad: :mad:.

The tin came from contaminated water i purchased from my local fish store and over the course of a few months the levels elevated due to the infrequent water changes i was performing. It took me that long to find the issue. Im using my dos pump to facilitate the water change, and i plan on making this change over the course of a couple weeks. I decided to use real ocean water supplied by Catalina water company. So far so good... the nem appears to like it as ive noticed that it is more compact now vs. being spread out as it was previously (that could also be the water flow....i added some gyre pumps a few weeks back).

I thought maybe it was shrinking, but the base appears to be larger. I am also noticing the tentacles appear to be thicker than they were previously. The only concern that i have is the mouth is not as tight..not gaping per se, but doesn't have the nipple look it once had (maybe still recovering?). Please chime in if you have any idea... all in all the Mag has not moved and appears to be doing ok, other than what was mentioned above.

 

[Sdot]

Ill Take more pix tomorrow....

 

[sprungson]

Hey family latest update on my Mag journey thus far.

I am quickly finding these animals are very sensitive. I made the mistake of feeding it a piece of a silver side only to find the anemone had a reaction to it as if it had a bacteria infection (Cycles of deflating). I did not treat it however since it appears to deflate every couple of days. No feeding! Let the clowns do that..... The cycles have slowed down and it hasn't deflated since 05/29. I am also dealing with high levels of tin, and per my ICP test i need to change 180 gallons of water :mad: :mad:.

The tin came from contaminated water i purchased from my local fish store and over the course of a few months the levels elevated due to the infrequent water changes i was performing. It took me that long to find the issue. Im using my dos pump to facilitate the water change, and i plan on making this change over the course of a couple weeks. I decided to use real ocean water supplied by Catalina water company. So far so good... the nem appears to like it as ive noticed that it is more compact now vs. being spread out as it was previously (that could also be the water flow....i added some gyre pumps a few weeks back).

I thought maybe it was shrinking, but the base appears to be larger. I am also noticing the tentacles appear to be thicker than they were previously. The only concern that i have is the mouth is not as tight..not gaping per se, but doesn't have the nipple look it once had (maybe still recovering?). Please chime in if you have any idea... all in all the Mag has not moved and appears to be doing ok, other than what was mentioned above.

I read through the forums a lot, and I recall seeing @OrionN and @D-Nak say to never feed silversides as they are prone to bacteria that could lead to an infection of the anemone. They recommend feeding "human" grade seafoods like fresh shrimp from the supermarket that you can freeze yourself.

 

[Sdot]

I read through the forums a lot, and I recall seeing @OrionN and @D-Nak say to never feed silversides as they are prone to bacteria that could lead to an infection of the anemone. They recommend feeding "human" grade seafoods like fresh shrimp from the supermarket that you can freeze yourself.

I guess my question is do you even need to feed? The only reason why i did is i heard they can shrink and die of starvation? Honestly ive heard both...too feed and not

 

[sprungson]

I guess my question is do you even need to feed? The only reason why i did is i heard they can shrink and die of starvation? Honestly ive heard both...too feed and not

I never feed my anemones (besides what they catch or them dang clowns feed them), and they are thriving and still alive. I can't speak for the ritteri as mines is still new as well.

 

[OrionN]

Feeding anemone is fine, as long as you feed them good food. They will grow much faster. Feeding bad food is bad for them. Silverside, being small, frozen hold with gut, can spoil really fast. Pet food does not get the care they should get many time. Often they thaw out during shipment and then refroze.
Most likely the OP Silverside were smelly, meaning spoiled. That was what make the anemone deflated. I am glad that this feeding did not kill him. I only feed my anemone what I have no problem eating myself. Many American, even Asian American, does not eat sea food, and do not know what sea food should smell like. I can tell you that good fresh seafood does not have smell, especially the smell we smell at the fish market.

No fish food or my anemones. Only human grade food.